ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARIA) acknowledged the receipt of a Congressional letter and reaffirmed its commitment to discovering and developing treatments for patients with rare cancers with the following statement:

ARIAD is a small, research-driven biotechnology company. Its mission is the discovery, development and delivery of highly innovative treatments for patients with rare cancers, including those with no other treatment options available today. The Company applies its deep in-house expertise and makes significant investments in research and development (R&D) to advance breakthrough treatments for patients.

The Company recognizes the high cost of innovative oncology drugs and believes in the importance and efficacy of its products. Importantly, to achieve its mission, ARIAD has invested more than $1.3 billion in R&D and accumulated losses of approximately $1.4 billion since the Company was founded, which have not been recovered. In 2015, ARIAD generated $119 million in total revenue and invested $171 million, or 143% of revenue, in R&D. After years of risk-taking and research, the Company has brought its first product to market serving a very small and seriously ill group of cancer patients. ARIAD remains fully committed to developing critical therapies for unserved and underserved small patient populations suffering from rare cancers.

The Company has received a letter from Rep. Cummings and Sen. Sanders requesting information and plans to respond to their request.